teaching love to dance
by Bookdancer
Summary: On twilight nights, on aching ones, on sunny days with chirping birds or thunderstorms that split the sky, Neil liked to dance with Andrew. Aka, 5 times Neil asked Andrew to dance and the 1 time Andrew asked first. Andreil Week 2019


_A/N:_

_this was written for the 2019 andreil week, day 6: dancing. i basically just took it as an excuse to write soft andreil_

_also thanks to queenofmoons67 (tumblr handle) for beta-ing_

_i do not own the foxhole court, and i've also cross-posted this fic to ao3 (Bookdancer) and tumblr ( bookdancerfics)_

_WARNINGS: angst, nightmares, but this is mostly fluff_

_this isn't my first 5+1 but it is the first one i'm publishing (the other is still in the works), so i hope you all enjoy the fic!_

* * *

teaching love to dance

_one_

The first time Neil asked Andrew to dance, they were propped against the far wall of Eden's Twilight, Andrew's gaze glued to Kevin. The other striker was already five drinks in and doing his best to ply Aaron with facts about exy and history at the same time. Neil found it amusing that he hadn't yet figured out that he could combine them to talk about exy history. Aaron, as drunk as he was, just seemed thankful Kevin was too intoxicated for that, although he still sent an occasional glance into the dancing crowd as if Nicky would sense it and come rescue him.

A good song blared from Eden's speakers, one that Neil could recognize from the number of times it played on the radio, although he couldn't name either the title or the artist. Still, he snuck a last glance at Aaron, Kevin, and Nicky, noting by the number of drinks on their table that all three were far too drunk to notice them.

He pulled away from the wall, ran his fingers through his hair, and then held his hand out to Andrew. "Dance with me?"

Andrew took his gaze off Kevin just to roll his eyes at Neil.

"I wanna dance with somebody," Neil said.

Andrew flipped him off. "If you're going to patronize the lyrics at least do it on beat."

Neil waited, though, and Andrew finally peeled his gaze from Kevin to stand up straight and stare at Neil.

"What will you give me if I do?" Andrew asked.

Neil shrugged, but at Andrew's look he let out a laugh. "Ben and Jerry's?"

Andrew shrugged back. "Good enough."

Neil followed Andrew onto the dance floor, both of them coming to a stop within the mass of bodies. The beat pounded in Neil's ears and Andrew gestured at him as if to say _well, get on with it_.

Neil didn't do much, just swayed, his hips moving from side to side as he shifted his feet. Andrew didn't move at all, just stared at Neil, but a smile tugged at Neil's lips anyway.

* * *

_two_

When Andrew got home, Neil had already put music on, some slow rock song that Neil still didn't know the name of crooning out of their speakers. Neil had bought them for a better experience of watching exy, but they came in handy on other occasions. Like this one.

Neil stood from where he sat on the couch, bundling King into his arms from where she had laid on his lap, and met Andrew at the door. Sir joined them, winding his way between their legs before sitting on Andrew's feet.

"Shove off," Andrew told the cat, but his feet didn't so much as twitch. Neil's mouth, on the other hand, did.

"Dance with me?" he asked.

"This is becoming an annoying habit," Andrew said. "194%."

Neil finally let himself grin. "I like music. And I like you."

Andrew blinked at him. "So do them separately."

Neil smiled and began swaying in time to the beat, scratching King's back as he did. "What if I want to do them together?"

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Yes or no?"

Neil tilted his head in question, but the answer was obvious. "Yes."

Without lifting his feet or bothering Sir, Andrew placed his hands on Neil's waist. As Neil moved, swaying, Andrew swayed with him, his arms following the movement. In Neil's arms, King kneaded at his chest, and Sir settled on Andrew's feet.

* * *

_three_

Neil slumped against the living room couch, his right leg supported by the coffee table and a brace wrapped around his knee. Even he would have to admit he was sulking, still upset that he'd twisted his knee in practice and even more upset about having to rest it for a full two weeks.

Andrew sat on the other end of the couch. He laid back against the cushions, his eyes half-lidded as he watched the TV, the remote in hand and his thumb on the channel button to make the TV rotate through the available shows. Most people would probably think Andrew was looking for something to actually watch, but Neil would bet Andrew found the quick search just as, if not more, entertaining than an actual show.

The TV showed some kind of singing competition for two split seconds before moving on, and Neil shoved himself to his feet. His knee twinged, letting him know he wasn't supposed to be standing on it, let alone walking on it or doing what Neil had stood up for.

Andrew didn't even spare him a glance. "Give me one good reason I should go along with this, junkie."

"It's not exy," Neil said.

"I never said it was."

"I'll give you ice cream."

Andrew didn't look at him, but the TV stopped switching channels at the end of _Dirty Dancing_, a movie the upperclassmen had forced Neil to watch sometime during his sophomore year. Silently, he watched the woman get lifted over the head of the male lead, and he wondered if Andrew had somehow timed this or if he'd just gotten lucky. Either way, Andrew was listening.

"Cherry Garcia," Neil said. The flavor was Andrew's favorite, although Neil couldn't say he knew what for.

"You're supposed to be resting," Andrew said.

Neil shrugged. "Since when did you care?"

Andrew didn't move, but his jaw twitched.

Neil waited for five seconds, then ten, twenty, and Andrew stood. Neil held his own hands out, ready to place them on Andrew's hip and shoulder, but Andrew ignored them and stepped right up to Neil's chest.

"Yes or no?" Andrew asked.

Neil frowned. "I already said yes."

Andrew shook his head. "Yes or no?"

"Yes," Neil said, and Andrew picked him up, hooking his hands under Neil's thighs. Neil instinctively wrapped his legs around Andrew's torso and his arms around Andrew's neck.

"What are you doing?" he asked, even as Andrew took slow steps around the living room.

"Dancing," Andrew said.

Neil snorted. "This isn't dancing."

"Says you. If you had your way you'd be wrecking your knee even more right now. I don't need Kevin yelling at me."

Neil frowned, but Andrew was right. If he'd been on his feet, his knee would doubtlessly be hurting. Like this, with Andrew carefully supporting him, every motion smooth and strong and the muscles under Neil's hands barely flexing, Neil's knee didn't so much as twinge.

"Kevin wouldn't yell at you," he said instead.

Andrew pinched his thigh. "Right."

Neil shrugged, deciding to leave it at that. Instead he leaned into Andrew, his knee painless and their steps around the living room blurring with the thumping in his chest.

* * *

_four_

Neil woke up startled, and he shoved his hand under his pillow looking for a gun that hadn't been there for years, only to find someone's clenched fist there instead. He blinked his eyes hard, trying to make sense of what was happening. The room was dark, only a sliver of moonlight ghosting over the carpet, and a cat was stretched across the end of the bed. Across the room, Neil could just make out the outline of a second cat seated on his dresser. Next to him was Andrew.

Neil blinked at him, trying to force his eyes to adjust to the darkness more than they already had. Andrew was on his side, facing Neil like he did most nights, with one hand under Neil's pillow and the other clutching the bed covers. The curve of the blanket told Neil that Andrew's legs were bent slightly at the knees. His eyes had yet to open.

"Andrew," Neil whispered, and then repeated it louder when he didn't get a reaction.

Even as he watched, the hand holding the blanket clenched tighter, white knuckled.

"Wake up," Neil said, and willed Andrew to do just that.

Finally, Andrew's eyes opened.

"Neil," he said, his voice rasping.

"Andrew," Neil said. He watched his boyfriend carefully. "Yes or no?"

Andrew stared back at him. "No."

Neil nodded. "Okay."

Andrew closed his eyes in a silent dismissal, and Neil followed his lead, creating an ovalish circle of their bodies. Five minutes passed, Neil counting out the seconds in his head before he opened his eyes again. Andrew had already opened his, watching Neil as silently as he'd born his nightmare.

They stared at each other quietly for another two minutes, Neil still counting the seconds. Finally he spoke.

"Dance with me?" His voice was rough with sleep but he didn't clear his throat, instead remaining quiet as he waited for Andrew. What dancing was supposed to do, he wasn't entirely sure, but he hoped it could be something like a distraction. Something like remembering where Neil stood with him. Something like the words they left unspoken, empty air that they chose instead to fill with percentages and nothings and every time they circled back to each other with keys and promises.

Andrew stared at him. "The answer is still no."

"Okay," Neil said, and Andrew pulled himself from the covers, short-limbed and sturdy, solid even in the dark.

Neil followed, calmness finally creeping in at the edges of the room. Neither of them turned on the lights, or the music, instead relying on the soft moonlight and the silence.

They joined at the foot of the bed, Neil standing as still as he could while Andrew placed careful hands on Neil's waist. Neil only moved when Andrew did. He kept his own hands folded behind him where they wouldn't accidentally make contact with Andrew, his head bent ever so slightly and his feet shuffling over the carpet. Andrew was the only reason he moved, following as Andrew stepped backwards and then forward, sideways, in a circle when they had more space. Slow dancing in their room to nothing but Andrew's hands on Neil's hips.

* * *

_five_

The rain came quickly, surprising them as they walked from the corner store back to their apartment, and Andrew refused to run. Instead they both got wet, not soaked but uncomfortably close to being so. They made it back inside just as thunder broke the sky, lightning forking outside their window. Almost on instinct at this point, Neil swung their grocery bags onto the counter and then turned to Andrew, one hand out.

"Have I told you you're a junkie yet?" Andrew asked, even as he took Neil's hand.

"Only a couple times," Neil said, and pulled Andrew in close.

The cats mewed from the kitchen, but Neil took their dance further away and then closer still, stepping around their apartment from the kitchen to the tiny dining room and then the living room and back to the kitchen again. Circling. Always circling.

There was ice cream melting on their counter and cats asking for food and Neil's brace still on their unused dining table from where he'd dumped it at the end of his two weeks. The storm raged outside, rain lashing the windows and thunder so close it shivered up Neil's spine.

He'd planned to do this later in the week, on their anniversary, but Andrew had never cared for anniversaries anyway and Neil still had a small box taking up room in his pocket.

As Andrew followed him into the living room for the ninth time, Neil pulled him to a stop.

"Andrew," he said, and then kneeled.

* * *

_**\+ one**_

Neil stood next to Andrew in a large white hall, a raised wooden platform the only thing showing what was the dance floor and what wasn't. Tables surrounded the platform, all empty, but each seat was labeled with a friend or someone Allison or Kevin insisted they invite. Andrew had dressed up nicely, in a blue suit so dark it was almost black, while Neil had settled on a soft orange so light it was almost white. Andrew made a face the first time he saw it, startling Neil into a smile. All of their guests stood around the dance floor, waiting for the music to begin.

Even as Neil listened, Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" filtered through the speakers, and he couldn't help but smile as he remembered the last time he'd danced to the song.

Something touched his elbow. He turned, a question on his tongue, to find Andrew standing there with his hand held out.

"Junkie," Andrew said, but Neil heard _dance with me _all the same.

* * *

_A/N:_

_which section is your favorite? (mine's section 4)_

_also, i have a tumblr account, bookdancerfics, so please feel free to drop by. sometimes i post writing updates_

_and, finally, please comment here! i love hearing what people think_


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